Be it known that I, Landers Sevier IV, a citizen of the United States, residing at 3726 Montrose Road, Birmingham, Ala. 35213; have invented a new and useful xe2x80x9cComputer Support Apparatus and Method.xe2x80x9d
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that may be subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Although personal computers have only been available to the public for slightly over twenty years, personal computing has become a pervasive part of most people""s lives. As computer technology has allowed for the manufacturing of computers of increasing power and decreasing size, personal computers or xe2x80x9claptopxe2x80x9d computers have become increasingly used by those who use a computer in various places. The emergence of email and the Internet have also provided ways for both stationary and mobile computer users to interact regardless of the distance between communicators.
Over a much longer period of time, people who are confined to a bed such as a hospital or sick bed have desired to continue working, communicating with others, or performing tasks of leisure. Various devices have been made, and some have been patented, that allow the bedridden to read, eat or drink, or even use certain kinds of computers. One such patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,647, was issued for a bed frame-mounted tray that may hold a book or magazine in an inverted position so that a bedridden person could read while lying in bed. Not only was this invention connected to the bed of the person using the tray, it did not provide for the attachment of a computer of any kind in any useful fashion. Indeed, computers were unknown when U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,647 was issued.
Another relevant patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,710, directed to a device for supporting a computer so that one may use the computer while lying on a bed. This patent does support a computer on a support system independent of the bed, but the support system is on casters on top of the bed so that the entire device must be surrounding the person using the device, which requires a considerable amount of work to situate. Also, the device does not allow the computer supported thereon to be inverted; a user of the device needs to be propped up in order to access the computer. Finally, the patented invention is not directed to an apparatus for supporting a laptop computer; the patented device is thus very cumbersome to use.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,566 was issued for a portable ergonomic workstation that articulates to a user""s position. Although a disabled person confined to a bed is contemplated by the inventor of that invention, the patented invention does not allow for the utilization of a computer support apparatus that employs components that are already common to the environments in which they are used, such as the tray stands in a hospital.
What is needed, then, is a system for supportably mounting a portable computer, such as a laptop computer, so that the computer may be usably presented to a user who is bedridden, especially where the system employs an articulating arm extending from an installed base upon which the computer is mounted.
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for supporting a portable computer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for supportably mounting a portable computer on a base, the portable computer being movable to a bedded person""s position via an articulating arm.
In its most basic form, the portable computer support of the invention involves an articulated arm adjustably connected to a mobile casterized base, and a portable computer retaining means attached to the second end of the articulated arm. The articulated arm has one or more joints that allow the arm to position a portable computer so that a user lying in a bed can use the computer, and the arm should be able to be locked into position in front of the user so that the computer will not be allowed to be easily pushed away during use.
The portable computer support means may be any configuration that holds a computer in such a manner that the computer may be rotated from a first position in which the computer is accessible to a sitting or standing person, to a second position in which the computer screen and keyboard are presented toga user who is lying in a supine position.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for stably supporting a portable or laptop computer.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for mounting a portable or laptop computer to a mobile base.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for presenting a portable or laptop computer to a person who is supine.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for articulating a portable or laptop computer to a person who is bedridden in any manner.
In addition to the foregoing, further, objects, features, and advantages of the present invention should become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings, wherein there are shown and described illustrated embodiments of the invention.